Method and means for laterally separating and spacing a plurality of traveling strips



1951 R. we. JOHNSTONE 2,570,061

METHOD AND MEANS FOR LATERALLY SEPARATING AND SPACING A PLURALITY 0F TRAVELING STRIPS Filed March 5. 1948 Hqi. 6 z 1 Patentecl Oct. 2, 1951 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE METHOD AND MEANS FOR LATERALLY SEP- ARATING AND SPACING A PLURALITY OF TRAVELING STRIPS Robert'McC. Johnstone, Bondsville, Pa. Application .March 5, 1948, Serial N0..13,247

2 Claims.

This invention relates. primarily to an improved the strips into their original parallel but now laterally spaced relationship.

While the invention is primarily useful for the aforesaid purpose,'the principle may be used in a reverse proces's'to decrease the lateral spacing between longitudinally traveling strips or to bring such laterally spaced strips into edgeabutting relation.

The invention may be more readily understood by reference to the attached drawings wherein:

Fig. l is a diagrammatic fragmentary top plan view of a device made in accordance with the invention;

Fig. 2 is a sectional View on the line 2-2, Fig. 1;

Fig. 3 is a top plan view on a reduced scale of a modified form of the device, and

Fig. 4 is a sectional view on the line 4-4 of Fig. 3.

With reference first to Figs. 1 and 2 of the drawings, the device therein illustrated consists essentially of two curved guide elements I and 2 arranged with respect to each other as best illustrated in Fig. 2. The slitted traveling web is shown at 3 traveling from the left as viewed in Fig. 1 toward the guide I under and around which it passes. The component longitudinal strips 4 of the web pass rearwardly to the underside of the guide 2 and upwardly around this guide, the said strips leaving the guide 2 in a path indicated at 5 in Fig. 2 which is parallel to and above the path 6 of the slitted web 3.

In engaging the concave side of the guide I the longitudinal strips 4 of the slitted web are deflected from their parallel into angularly divergent paths, this by reason of the curvature of the guide I as illustrated in Fig. 1. In the present instance the curvature of the guide is such that the degree of angular divergence of the strips 4 with respect to each other is substantially uniform, the included angles 1 between the proximate edges of the adjoining strips 4 being substantially equal.

The guide 2 exhibits a curvature corresponding substantially to that of the guide I, and the guides are relatively arranged so that they lie parallel to eachother. When, therefore, the strips 4 engage the convex side of the guide 2, they are deflected from the divergent paths which they followin passing from the guide I to the guide Zandare directed into the paths 5 in which they are again parallel to each other but now uniformly laterally spaced with respect to each other, asillustrated in the drawings.

Theoretically, in order to obtain true parallelivity of the strips 4, the sections of the guide .2 engaged by theindividual strips dshould be exactly "parallel to the sections of the guide I engaged by the same. strips. Obviously this condition would not prevail if the curvatures of'the guides represented circular arcs. When, as is usually the case, the desired degree of separation of the strips is small, so that the curvature of the guides may be wide, 1. e., of long radius, and so that the guides may be placed relatively close together, the guides may be formed on the same arcuate curvature, since in such case the error is so small as to be negligible.

It is apparent that the extent of separation of the strips is in part a function of the linear distance between the guides I and 2. When the guides are formed arbitrarily on circular arcs, it is desirable as indicated above to place them as close together as possible. Where the said arcs are of long radius, however, a certain latitude in the relative arrangement of the guides is afforded, so that the distance between the guides may be made variable as a medium for regulating the ultimate extent of separation of the strips.

In the embodiment disclosed in Figs. 3 and 4 the relative arrangement of the two curved guide elements II! and I I difiers somewhat from that of the elements I and 2 of the previously described embodiment. The principle of operation remains the same, however. In this case the elements I0 and II are arranged so that the strips I4 of the web I3 travel approximately in a vertical plane while moving in their divergent paths between the elements.

With further reference to the drawings, it will be apparent that the device is reversible in effect, in that if the direction of movement of the strips indicated in the drawings is reversed, then the originally laterally spaced strips coming first into engagement with the convex sides of the guide elements 2 and II will be deflected into convergent paths and Will be reoriented into parallel and contiguous paths by subsequent engagement with the guides I and II). In either direction of travel of the strips, it is apparent that the ultimate special relation of the strips may be modified by altering the linear distance between the two guides. It will be apparent also that by use of irregularly formed guides the ultimate spacing of the strips may be made to lack uniformity to desired extent.

I claim:

1. A method of laterally separating a plurality of strips traveling in side by side substantially parallel relation in a fixed common plane, which consists in first simultaneously deflecting all of said strips angularly into laterally divergent paths by contacting said strips with a fixed concave surface, extending transversely across the paths of travel of the strips, causing the strips to continue traveling in such paths until the desired amount of lateral separation is obtained,

and then simultaneously deflecting all of said strips without material distortion of said strips laterally from their divergent paths of travel by contacting said strips with a fixed convex surface extending transversely across the paths of travel of said strips into parallel paths in a plane substantially parallel to the fixed common plane of the strips when disposed in side-by-side parallel relation prior to contact with said concave surface, with each strip laterally separated from the adjoining strips to the extent secured by said angular deflection.

2. In a device for laterally relatively adjusting a plurality of side by side parallel longitudinally traveling strips disposed in a fixed common plane, a pair of non-rotating parallel guide bars extending transversely across the paths of travel of said plurality of strips and fixed in relatively spaced relation longitudinally of said paths for successive deflecting engagement with said traveling strips, said bars being curved and being disposed so that the plane of curvature of the bar first engaged by the plurality of advanci g strips lies substantially parallel to the plane which the strips approach said bar, and t e plane of curvature of the second bar lies su stantially parallel to the plane in which the strips depart from the latter bar, said pair of bars being disposed so that the strips first engage the concave side of the said first bar engaged by said advancing strips and then engage the convex side of said second bar engaged by said advancing strips, the plane in which the strips depart from said second bar being substantially parallel to the fixed common plane of said strips when disposed in side by side parallel longitudinal relation prior to contact with the concave side of said first bar.

ROBERT McC. JOHNSTONE.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Date Friend Sept. 10, 1940 

